More Ways Than One
by Rocky Rooster
Summary: Stork loves Piper, but he doesn't think he's good enough for her. So he tries to change himself, but with the help of an unusual crystal, he ends up changing more than he expects. StorkxPiper. First Fic! **Complete!**
1. An Unusual Discovery

_Hello and welcome to my very first fanfic!_

_Right, where do I start? Oh, right, disclaimer!_

_I do not own Storm Hawks or any of the characters in the show, they belong to Nerd Corps. If I did, there would be a LOT more episodes._

_For those of you how don't know, I am a big fan of Stork, and I particularly like the StorkxPiper pairing. If you don't like this, don't read and whine about it to me later._

_As this is my first Fanfic, please be considerate with your comments. Constructive criticism is welcome but all flames will be thrown into the wastelands to be devoured by Lava-Scorpions! Mwaaahaahaaa!!!!_

_*Ahem*, sorry about that. Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 1 – An Unusual Discovery**

The Condor touched down on the sand-covered landing pad on Terra Saharr.

They had recently had a run-in with a Cyclonian Battle Cruiser and, although they had emerged victorious, had sustained some minor battle damage.

The old carrier ship had crystal-blast scars scattered all over the hull, one of the main windows was smashed and there was a small amount of damage to the left engine, so they had flown to the nearest Terra for repairs and to replenish their supplies.

All the Storm Hawks departed the ship, even Stork, although cautiously as he stepped out into the burning heat of the desert-like Terra.

"Right guys" Said Aerrow to Stork and Junko "Get the parts we need and meet back here in an hour."

With that, the other members of the team headed off for food and crystals while Stork and Junko headed in the opposite direction towards the mechanical district of the Terra. Luckily the damage to the Condor was minimal, so it didn't take long to find all they needed for the repairs.

Junko loaded all the parts into a large crate and turned to Stork.

"Ready to head back to the Condor?"

"You go ahead, I've got a few things I want to get."

Junko simply nodded and headed back to the ship, carrying the heavy crate on one shoulder as if it was nothing.

Stork watched him until he was out of sight, before heading off for the first item on his list: a new pet.

Stork had a strange fascination with some of the most highly venomous and extremely deadly creatures in the entire Atmos. He had owned several of them, but he never managed to keep them for long. They either escaped (much to the horror of his teammates) or died for one reason or another. His most recent was one he'd been particularly fond of: a rare Poison-Fanged Nightmare Fish.

He would spend hours just watching the thing in morbid fascination as it tried to lunge at him through the reinforced glass of it's tank, until he found it floating belly-up at the top of its tank which was filled with sludge. He found out later that Finn had tried to feed it some of Junko's cooking to avoid having to eat it himself.

Stork wandered the various stalls, finding many creatures that were merely 'dangerous' but nothing that was 'sending shivers down your spine just thinking about' deadly, like he wanted.

Sighing dejectedly, he headed towards the Scrapyard.

This, is where ships and skimmers go to die. It was like a graveyard for all things metal and although it was only a little way away from the usually busy stalls, it was always quiet and devoid of life. Well, except for the owner, though it was sometimes hard to think of him as 'alive' considering he seemed to be mostly made up of metal and scars.

Stork liked it here, he found it strangely homey, even though he had to admit, it was a little creepy. But he had a good reason for coming here, you see, the Condor doesn't have a great deal of spare parts on board, this is mainly because it is an old ship and parts for it can be expensive, and they don't have much money to spare after they have brought all the crystals they need and enough food to last them with Finn and Junko's seemingly bottomless stomachs.

A lot of the stuff at the Scrapyard was useless junk, but there were some real gems to be found, if you know where to look. Stork had a natural talent for finding such items, and could purchase them from the owner for next to nothing.

After only a short time rummaging, Stork was able to find a number of useful parts that only needed minor repairs, and put them in a small pile before continuing his search.

After a while he checked his watch. _"Just enough time for one more quick look"_ he thought before diving into a large pile of scrap metal.

A few moments later he emerged, dragging his latest prize.

"_A complete crystal converter?! This is my lucky day! Hmmm…a few holes, but nothing a welding torch won't fix!" _thought Stork excitedly.

After loading the parts into a small cart he quickly constructed out of scrap metal and paying for the owner, Stork headed back to the Condor.

By the time he got there, everyone was waiting and Junko had just finished fixing the Condor.

"Everyone got what you wanted?" Asked Aerrow, everyone nodded with the exception of Finn, who shook his head. He was mad at Piper because she wouldn't let him buy a bunch of 'rock' records he wanted, Aerrow knew this and simply ignored him.

They quickly loaded their purchases on the Condor and were in the air minutes; glad to be leaving the unbearable heat of Terra Saharr.

* * *

After several hours of peaceful flight, Stork found a ledge on a quiet forest-covered Terra and applied the grappling hooks, mooring the ship for the night.

Instead of turning in like everyone else, Stork went down to the storage area, where his latest purchases from the Scrapyard were located. After fixing up a few small parts, he moved onto the Crystal Converter, examining it carefully for every minor defect before getting out his welding torch and patching it up.

Stork was about to patch up a large hole on one side when he spotted something. It looked like there was something jammed deep inside the mechanism; he could see it glowing a dim turquoise green.

Stork knew better than to blindly put his hand inside to grab whatever-it-was and instead got a pair of steel tongs, which he normally used when handling red-hot metal.

It was a crystal, shaped almost like a distorted 'X' and about the size of a fist. Stork had never seen a crystal like this before, and he wasn't about to touch it in case it did something bad, like turn his blood to poison or something.

Glancing at his watch, Stork saw how late it was and he didn't want to wake Piper up in the middle of the night. Holding the tongs and the crystal as far away from him as possible, he made his way to the bridge.

After the whole 'incident' with the Leechers, Stork had created a special shielded container for unidentified crystals to be stored where they wouldn't cause any harm. For once, the others agreed it was a good idea.

Carefully placing the strange crystal inside, he sealed the container and heaved a sigh of relief, before heading to his room for the night.

When he got there he quickly changed into his PJ's, which consisted of his favourite orange 'Bessie' T-shirt and a pair of black boxer shorts.

He then opened up his wardrobe, and stared at the large amount of pictures pinned to the back of the door. They were pictures of Piper. Some of them had one of two other people in them too, but _all_ of them had Piper.

Stork let out a contented sigh, letting a big, goofy grin spread across his face as he did so.

Nobody knew about it, but Stork was madly in love with Piper.

He had felt this way the moment he met her, when she and the rest of the Storm Hawks landed in the wastelands on the newly repaired Condor.

At first, Stork thought it was just a crush, caused by the loneliness of those years spent repairing the ship. That, and he was also fairly sure that his lack of regular human-or-humanoid contact had made him go more than a little…strange.

His couldn't remember when it had first started, somehow talking to the ship became a normal habit, as well as imagining it could talk back, and it wasn't until his new teammates told him how strange it was that he realised.

Over the next year he got to know her, and his feelings for her only got stronger. He even learned to accept that it was, in fact, love. He began to study her; looking for any hint that maybe, just maybe, she felt the same.

He thought back to when she hugged him after their adventure in the Black Gorge. It had been so unexpected that he had tensed up and freaked out a little, but he had to admit, he did enjoy it.

He still tensed but every time she touched him, it was a habit that he was finding hard to break. It didn't help that whenever she touched him it felt like electricity running down his spine and overloading his senses.

He wanted to change that, as well as a few other things about himself that he didn't like. She deserved so much better, and he was determined to make himself worthy of her love.

He reached up to the top shelf of his wardrobe and brought down a tape player, with earphones. Over the last several months, Stork had been listening to this every night to help improve himself.

It was a self-hypnotherapy tape; it worked by sending the listener into a sort of deep trance where they are able to address and deal with any problems and inner-demons they may have. Though progress was slow, Stork had to admit; it did seem to be working.

He laid down on his bed, put in the earphones and allowed himself to relax, picturing Piper as he sank into the peaceful abyss of his subconscious mind.


	2. Confessions of a Crystal Specialist

_Chapter 2 for you all! And thank you very much to my reviewers, you guys ROCK! Cyber-muffins for you all, whatever flavour you want - *POOF* it's yours!_

_I'm not going to put a disclaimer at the top of each chapter, just refer to the first._

* * *

**Chapter 2 – Confessions of a Crystal Specialist**

Knock Knock

"Piper? Can I talk to you?"

Piper, who had been sitting on her bed in her room/ crystal lab writing her squadron log, put the log down to answer.

"Sure, Aerrow. Come on in!"

The Sky Knight entered the room and sat down next to her on the bed.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Asked Piper, trying to end the awkward silence that had been going on for several minutes.

"Is-Is there something bothering you? I've noticed that you've been a little…distracted lately"

Piper stiffened, had she really been that obvious? She turned to look at her redheaded leader and saw the concern in his eyes. She sighed, knowing she would have to tell someone eventually, but she didn't expect it to be so soon.

"W-w-well, you see…I sorta…got a crush on someone…"

"That's great Piper! Anyone I know?"

"T-that's the problem, it's…Stork" She closed her eyes tightly and braced herself for the criticism she was sure she'd get. When nothing came after a few moments, she opened her eyes and looked at Aerrow.

It was safe to say he was more than a little shocked by this confession, and it took him a few moments to regain the use of his vocal chords and pick his jaw up from the floor.

"R-really? Stork? Uhhh, Isn't he a little..." He paused and thought for a moment what he should say that wouldn't cause offence "…old?" He finished lamely.

He received a glare from Piper and swallowed hard.

"I-I-I m-mean, you're fifteen and i-isn't he like, twenty or something?"

"Actually, Merbs live longer than humans, so they have longer childhoods, they're not considered adults until they are twenty-five in human years, Stork would be equivalent to about seventeen."

"Oh, I didn't know that. Have you told him?"

"No. I'm afraid of what his reaction might be; I mean, I don't want to freak him out or anything."

Aerrow nodded in agreement. How exactly _would_ Stork react to something like that? Stork could be very unpredictable sometimes, and simply blurting it out to him was probably not a good idea. Then an idea struck him.

"What if we introduce him to it _slowly?_"

"What do you mean?" Asked Piper, giving him a strange look.

"Well, instead of just telling him, maybe you could show him a few signs of affection, compliments, baking him sandcakes, maybe a few friendly touches, see if he can handle that before going onto anything more?"

Piper thought about this.

"Hmmm…. That might work. Maybe I can do something nice for him or something, and a few friendly touches here and there couldn't hurt, it might even help him get used to a little closeness before I tell him. Thanks Aerrow!"

"Hey, what are friends for?"

* * *

For once, Stork was not the first person up on the Condor. He awoke to the most delightful smell. He inhaled deeply, taking in as much as he could, making his mouth water in anticipation.

He quickly dressed and let his nose carry him out of his room and towards the heavenly aroma.

When he reached the kitchen, the automatic doors opened and Stork found Piper fully clothed in her uniform and cooking breakfast. She turned when she heard him.

"Morning Stork!" She said cheerfully. "Hungry?"

Stork nodded unable to form words at the moment, partially from shock and partially from the intoxicating smell coming from the stove. He sat down at the table and she put a plate in front of him.

"I made you an omelette, I put a little Merb Cabbage in it to give it some flavour."

"_Merb Cabbage omelette? She made this just for me?"_

Stork dug in eagerly, taking his time to savour the flavour.

"_Oh, man! It tastes even better than it smells!"_

Piper giggled when she noticed the look of pure bliss on Stork's face.

"Good?"

"Y-yeah, v-very g-good. T-thank you P-piper." He stuttered, embarrassed at being caught in a blissful stupor and trying desperately not to blush.

"You're welcome." She answered, brushing her hand across his shoulders as she walked past.

Stork tensed out of habit before he could stop himself. Feeling this, Piper quickly removed her hand sadly and returned to cooking breakfast for the rest of the team.

Stork mentally kicked himself and finished his breakfast before heading to the bridge.

* * *

After breakfast, Stork removed the grappling hooks that had secured the Condor to the Terra for the night and was soon in the air.

A few minutes later, Piper walked onto the bridge and started looking through navigational charts so they could set a course for their next destination: Terra Ray.

After the recent battle with the Cyclonians, Aerrow had decided that they were all due a break. Though Stork didn't really like vacations, he agreed it would be nice to take a break from 'constant lurking doom at the hands of their enemies', which was the closest thing to a 'yes' as you could get from the pilot.

After the course was set, Stork suddenly remembered his discovery last night. He'd forgotten all about it. The pulled the autopilot lever and walked over to the shielded container.

"Hey, Piper, you might want to take a look at this."

Piper walked over and picked it up. Stork cringed at her failure to 'UPCHUC' as she called it (despite the sniggering from the other members of the team whenever she said it), and she held it up to the light to examine it.

"I've never seen anything like it! Where did you get this?!"

"I found it lodged inside and old Crystal Converter. I thought you'd might know if it was dangerous." He said, backing away from it a little.

"I'll have to do a bit of research to try and identify it…"

"Identify what?"

They looked around and saw that Aerrow and the other Storm Hawks had walked onto the bridge.

"Stork found this strange crystal, I have no idea what it is."

"I'll find out what it does for ya!" Said Finn, snatching the crystal out of Piper's hand and preparing to activate it. Aerrow knew what he was thinking and took away from him before he could do anything and handed it back to Piper.

"Do you remember what happened the _last_ time you activated an unidentified crystal?" Scolded Piper, shuddering at the memory of a ship full of Finn clones.

Finn remembered that he had been knocked out and stuffed into a small cupboard for the better part of a day, so he agreed, just this once. "All right, I won't touch it."

"Good." With that, she left the bridge and headed to her crystal lab to begin her investigation.

* * *

_For those of you who haven't seen the episode 'Home Movie Night', __UPCHUC means:_

_Use_

_Plenty of_

_Caution when_

_Handling_

_Unstable_

_Crystals_

_Please review, I have changed it so you don't have to have an account so there is no excuse not to tell me what you think!  
_


	3. Freakouts and Longings

**Chapter 3 – Freakouts and Longings**

It had been several hours since Piper had retreated to her lab, and all was quiet on the helm of the Condor.

Aerrow and Radarr were on the bridge playing cards, and Aerrow was losing. Badly.

He frowned as Radarr put down yet another winning hand, grinning smugly at the red-haired boy.

"Best three out of five?" asked Aerrow, determined not to be beaten by his furry co-pilot.

Radarr just rolled his eyes and dealt the cards.

After a few minutes they were interrupted when Finn suddenly ran onto the bridge, closely followed by Junko who were engaged in a duel of paper-wad throwing with each other. They were ducking and weaving each others projectiles while throwing their own back at the other, seemingly oblivious to the others around them, who were being repeatedly hit by the stray ammo.

Stork grew frustrated when yet another wad bounced off his shoulder and he pulled one of his numerous booby-trap leavers he had build next to the helm. Finn moved out of the way just at the wrong time, narrowly avoiding the slime that poured from above his head and spilled all over the deck.

Finn ran across the bridge and dived behind the table, loading wads into a crossbow he pulled seemingly out of nowhere and started firing sniper-style using the bridge for cover.

Junko, tried to run away from the shots but ended up slipping the slime and landing flat on his back with a loud CLANG!!! Sending a small earthquake through the ship from the Wallops weight. Finn rose up from behind the table in fits of laughter, holding his sides and pounding the table in amusement.

Aerrow decided he should intervene at this point. Not only was he about to lose yet again to Radarr but he could also see that Stork was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and was reaching over to activate more traps. Aerrow didn't have any idea of what most of the leavers did, nor did he want to see a practical demonstration on anyone but his enemies either, so picking up a discarded wad, he shouted:

"Hey Finn, heads up!"

Finn looked around and ducked just in time to avoid the wad thrown by Aerrow.

Aerrow quickly ran off the bridge when he saw he'd been spotted, making sure that Finn had followed before he ran too far. Junko had seen all of this and picked himself off the floor, careful not to slip again and ran after the two, Radarr trailing behind and leaving Stork alone on the bridge.

Stork stared at the door for a moment before shaking his head and turning back to the helm. When he first joined the Storm Hawks, Stork automatically assumed that this behaviour was caused by Mind Worms, but he quickly learned that Junko was very childish and Finn was-well, Finn. He wondered if Finn actually caught Mind Worms, would anyone notice? It would be an interesting thing to observe, from a safe distance, of course.

"_They probably wouldn't survive on the pea that rattles around inside his head where his brain should be"_ he thought darkly, chuckling at his own joke.

Stork looked across the room, he probably should have activated one of the less-messy traps he had instead. No. Someone else can clean it up. He turned back around and stared out the window, but he found he kept looking back, unable to just forget it. He sighed, damn his obsession with cleanliness!

Getting a mop and bucket, he busily set to work, putting himself on autopilot as he allowed his mind to wander and he began to think of Piper.

He pictured her in his mind, concentrating on all the little details, but his mind kept circling back to the breakfast she'd made him only this morning. He knew that no one else on the ship liked Merb Cabbage except him; she seemed to have made a real effort of his behalf, and that _touch_. It sent tingles down his spine just _thinking_ about it.

Stork didn't know how long he'd been lost in thought, and didn't even remember returning to the helm, so it was no surprise that he didn't hear the bridge door open or the quiet footsteps that came closer and closer until…

SPLAT!!!

A huge spitball had hit him right in the side of the head; he spun around in the direction it had come, a look of pure horror on his face.

Upon seeing his expression, Finn fell about in a fit of roaring laughter, holding his sides to keep them from splitting.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! GERMS!!! GERMS!!! GET THEM OFF ME!!! GET THEM OFF ME!!!!!"

Stork jumped around, flailing his arms in a futile attempt to wipe the germs off.

Junko walked onto the bridge, stuffing the remainder of his sandwich into his mouth.

"Hey, what's going o-" But he never got to finish that sentence as Stork, in his mad panic, had ran into the helm, forcing the ship into a nosedive.

The G-forces caused Finn to fly across the room and crash into the back wall. He had just enough time to let out a high-pitch girly scream before he was abruptly silenced by Junko, who crashed into him.

"Owww…." Came the weak, muffled voice of Finn, from somewhere in the region of Junko's back.

Stork, who had managed to grab hold of a pipe, managed to snap out of his germ-induced panic to assess the situation, and decided a possible death from infection was better than certain doom from crashing head-first into the wastelands.

He shimmied down the pipe until he reached the floor, which was now vertical, and climbed up it as nimbly as a gecko up glass until he reached the helm, pulling on it with all his might.

The ship responded and pulled up, the bottom of the ship brushing dangerously close to a large lava pit.

Stork breathed a sigh of relief and slumped over the controls.

"Ugh…." He moaned.

Junko, still stuck to the wall where he had been while they were falling, let out a groan and popped off, landing face-first on the floor in a heap. Finn, no longer being pinned by Junko, landed on top of him.

Finn slid off of Junko and landed next to him groaning in pain.

"You okay, buddy?" Said Junko, helping him up.

Finn staggered around, eyes rolling in their sockets as he babbled incoherently.

"Buddy?!"

Junko, trying to be helpful, grabbed Finn's shoulders and shook him in an attempt to snap him out of his confused state.

"JUNK-OOOOOOO!!!!" Yelled Finn as he was shaken with the force of an earthquake that would have easily registered 6 on the Richter Scale.

"BUDDY! YOU'RE OKAY!" Junko yelled, before pulling him into a hug, causing several joints to pop painfully in the sharpshooter's body before he put him down.

The sound of running feet came down the corridor and Aerrow appeared in the doorway. Radarr was clinging to his shoulders in the manner of a terrified cat, rigid with fear and trembling violently.

"What happened?" He said, though he already had a pretty good idea.

"Uuhhhh…" Started Finn, knowing he was in big trouble.

"FINN!!!!"

They all jumped in fright as Piper walked onto the bridge, looking thoroughly pissed.

She stomped angrily up to Finn and a nervous smile spread across his face

"Heh, my bad…" said Finn sheepishly.

"MY BAD?! THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!"

"Hey! It was only a joke! Stork was the one who overreacted and nearly crashed us into the wastelands!!" Finn whined.

Piper calmed herself slightly, and continued a little quieter.

"You really need to learn to grow up Finn!" Piper said sharply. You could've cut cheese with her tone.

"GEEZ! Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed or something?!"

Piper rubbed her temples in frustration and Aerrow decided to step in at that point.

"All right, I'm sure Finn is sorry, aren't you Finn?" urging him to apologise.

Finn hurriedly murmured his apologies to both Piper and Stork. Stork just mumbled a response, to show he heard him.

"So…" started Finn, attempting to change the subject "…have you found out what that crystal does yet?"

"No." sighed Piper, slumping down at the table in frustration. "I've run every test I know, and I'm still no closer to identifying it!"

Aerrow could see she was getting upset about it, and the stunt Finn had pulled had made things much worse, but he knew just how to cheer her up.

"Hey don't worry about it. How about a game of Keep Away? Maybe it'll help clear your head?"

Piper nodded, she could use a break, she decided. Before she left the bridge with the others, she turned to Stork.

"Hey, wanna join in?"

Stork shook his head negatively. Truthfully, even if Stork _had_ wanted to join in, he was still holding onto the steering controls so tightly he wasn't sure he could let go if he wanted to.

A few minutes later, the sound of skimmer engines could be heard and he saw his teammates leave the ship, tossing the crystal around playfully and simply enjoying themselves.

At one point, Finn clipped Piper's heli-scooter with one of the wings on his skimmer, knocking her off and Aerrow had to catch her. Stork saw how he grabbed her around the waist and put his hand on her shoulder when she was back on her ride.

Stork suddenly felt sick as a wave of jealousy hit him.

"_How could I ever hope to compete with Aerrow? He's brave, heroic, handsome…" _He looked sadly at his green four-fingered hand curled around the steering control _"…human…"_

Suddenly, Stork's ears perked up. He could hear a far away voice, though he couldn't understand what it was saying, it appeared to be calling him.

He slowly detangled himself from the controls and followed the voice, feeling himself being drawn towards it as if someone else had taken possession of his body.

He found himself at Piper's lab, without hesitation he walked in, seeing the strange crystal being held securely in a strange device in the middle of the workbench.

The voices here were louder, speaking to his very soul and further clouding his mind.

Before he knew what was happening, he had stepped closer and his arm was reaching out towards it of its own free will.

He picked it up in one four-fingered hand and gazed into the shimmering turquoise depths as if hypnotized.

Strange images went through Stork's mind before the crystal began to glow brightly, engulfing him in a blinding light that filled the entire room…

* * *

_Ok, things are really starting to get going in this story, but there's still so much left to go, I hope you're enjoying it so far._

_Hmmmm, there appears to be a lot more people reading then there are reviewing. Seriously, is my writing so bad that people can't take 2 minutes to write a review?_

_I am the president of the Stalker-Hen Association, and I'll set my subjects on you if you don't press the review button, it doesn't have to be much, just a few words even, just say "Hi" or something!_

_I've also got homemade cyber-cookies ready for all my reviewers, so if you want one, you know what to do._


	4. Beautiful Stranger

_Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed or added me as a favourite, you all ROCK! Seriously, you wouldn't believe how happy you've made me!_

_Also, thank you to The Fl__ying Fruitcake for Beta'ing me._

_I bet you're all dying to know what that crystal is going to do to Stork, well the wait is over, here it is! Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Beautiful Stranger**

The blinding light faded into a dull glow and Stork stood there for a few minutes blinking madly, trying to clear the spots that filled his vision.

Once his vision cleared, he looked down at the now dim crystal, and that's when he noticed the hand that held it. He dropped the crystal in total shock and stared at his hand in disbelief. It wasn't the usual green, but instead it was a pale shade of peach.

"_What the hell is going on?!"_

Realisation dawned on him as he looked down further. He no longer had the three prehensile toes of a Merb, but instead he saw the ten toes on his bare human feet.

In his growing excitement, he quickly lifted his hands so he could feel his ears. Or at least, where his ears _used_ to be. He trailed his hands down to the side of his head until he found them, feeling the earrings on the upper-part of his now smaller, rounder left ear.

"Mirror! I need a mirror!"

He half-ran half-crawled clumsily to Finn's room, until he got to his wardrobe, which he threw open so he could look in the full-length mirror that Finn had on the inside of the door.

He couldn't believe his eyes; he was human! A happy smile crept across his face as he examined himself. His elongated face was slightly shorter and less pointed than before and he had a normal human nose and eyes. His irises were a dark forest-green colour, darker than Aerrow's and his neck was shorter and straighter.

His textured green skin and dark blue fingernails were gone, replaced with a pale human skin-tone, a little too pale in Stork's opinion, but still an improvement on his original colour. His hair was exactly the way it was before, though was no longer parted by his long ears.

He looked at his hands and flexed his new pinkie-finger experimentally, finding it hard to move without moving the one next to it as well.

"_Why do human's have this extra finger? What's it's purpose?"_ he wondered.

Stork realised he still stood with his usual hunch and straightened up, mentally agreeing that it made him look much better.

"Just wait 'till the others get a load of THIS!" Stork said to himself with a smile, but then shuddered when he received a worrying thought.

"What if they want to change me back?! Well…" He said rubbing his hands together "…We'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

He took a few cautious steps out of the room, taking the time to grow accustomed to his new feet before he quickened his pace and ran into the crystal lab. The crystal was still on the floor where he had left it; he picked it up and stared at it for a moment.

He knew he couldn't simply throw it off the ship; his friends were still outside and might see it. Also he just couldn't bring himself to throw away something like this, he may also possibly need it later. Luckily, nobody knew the Condor like Stork; there were so many nooks and crannies no one else knew about where he could hide a crystal.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, he decided on a hiding spot near his usual place at the helm. Pulling open a panel at the front of the ship, he gently placed the crystal inside, making sure to wedge it securely between some power cables so it wouldn't rattle around too much during rough flight.

"_Right, now that's taken care of, time to prepare a little 'surprise' for a certain blonde sharpshooter" _Thought Stork, rubbing his hand together and grinning evilly_._

Stork had just returned to the bridge when he heard the sound of tyres screeching to a halt in the hanger, followed by the familiar voices of his friends.

Suddenly, Stork grew very nervous about what his friend's reactions might be and silently prayed to any God who was listening that Piper liked his new appearance.

* * *

Piper headed towards the hanger bay sadly. It wasn't just her failure to identify the crystal that was getting her down, but she was also concerned about Stork.

She really didn't think it was fair that the others picked on him all the time, everyone was guilty of it, even Aerrow had pulled the occasional prank to invoke one of the pilot's over-the-top reactions and she was worried that there was only so much he could take.

She remembered something he'd once said; "I'm only here until something better comes along" She shuddered at the memory. It wasn't the first time she had thought about this, she wondered what Stork would consider as being 'better' and would he really leave them if the chance arose?

She smiled slightly, remembering his reaction to the special breakfast she made him this morning, but became sad again when she recalled the way he tensed when she touched him. She shook her mind free of these thoughts as she mounted her heli-scooterand took off after the boys.

Piper quickly felt the fresh air doing her good, and was soon enjoying herself, focusing on nothing but the game.

At one point she was sure she saw a bright light out of the corner of her eye in the direction of the Condor, but when she turned around for a proper look she saw nothing out of the ordinary. She shrugged, thinking it was just her imagination and returned to the game.

Eventually the game ended with Aerrow winning with one of his wild stunts that knocked Finn of his skimmer and he landed on the front of Junko's, bruising his crotch. She knew she shouldn't laugh at his misfortune, but she felt it was a good punishment for him knocking her off her heli-scooter earlier in the game. They quickly parked their skimmers in the hangar bay and headed for the bridge.

As they walked through the main bridge doors and came face to face with a total stranger.

They wasted no time in pulling out and activating their weapons, pointing them at the intruder.

"Who are you?! Are you working for the Cyclonians?! What have you done with Stork?! Answer me!" Aerrow demanded.

This caused the stranger to jump back in alarm and stutter uncontrollably.

"Gahhh!! Wah-ah! D-d-don't p-p-please…"

Piper lowered her staff and looked at him quizzically. She thought there was something eerily familiar about him when she first saw him, but hearing that voice…she knew who it sounded like, but it just couldn't be….

That's when she noticed the hairstyle, the two silver hoops in his left ear and the familiar X-shaped armour on his chest.

"Stork?!"

* * *

_Don't be shy, review please!_


	5. Lies

_Thanks again to all my lovely reviewers, I think I'm becoming a bit of a review-a-holic and you all fuel my addiction! Wooooo!_

_For those who asked, there are reasons why Stork likes his new form so much, and its not because he did't like being a Merb, I didn't mean to imply that. All will be revealed in the next chapter.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Lies**

The boys looked at each other bewildered and slowly lowered their weapons. Now that Piper mentioned it, he _did_ look sort of like Stork.

"Stork?" Asked Aerrow cautiously "Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me."

"What happened to you?" asked Piper, still in shock.

Stork wished he had prepared an answer for this, he wasn't sure he should tell them about the way the crystal seemed to take control of his body before it changed him.

"Uhhh…The crystal! The one in your lab! I, uh, was checking to see if anything got damaged from our near-collision course with the wastelands and I accidentally touched it. So, uh, what do you think?" asked Stork, remembering to straighten himself back up from his usual stoop.

Piper could tell that he was lying about something, but decided to just let it go.

"You look awesome dude!" Said Finn doing his 'pistol fingers' pose "Chica cha!"

"You look great, Stork." Said Aerrow, Radarr chirped in agreement from his shoulder.

"Wow, you look really cool!" Said Junko who went to slap Stork on the back, but given his strength, ended up knocking him over.

"Yeah, you look really…nice" Piper said, blushing. She had really wanted to say 'sexy', but caught herself just in time.

"Hey, can I try it too?" Asked Junko, picking Stork up off the floor and brushing him off.

"Sure!" Piper ran off to her lab but returned a few minutes later, empty-handed. "Hey, where is the crystal?"

Stork had been expecting this, and had mentally rehearsed what would happen next. He knew those drama classes he'd taken at school would come in handy!

"It right over…" He pointed towards the table "Where is it?!" he screamed and started to frantically searching around and under the table "I could've _sworn _I left it right _here!_ He said, trying his best to look genuinely concerned. Luckily, the others seemed fooled.

"Don't worry, we'll find it. It must be here somewhere!" Said Aerrow, putting a reassuring hand on Stork's shoulder before snapping into 'leadership mode'. "Everyone search the ship!" he commanded.

"I'll take the bridge!" Volunteered Stork, not wanting anyone to discover his hiding place by pure chance.

"I'll take the kitchen!" Said Finn, hoping to 'search' the fridge in case the crystal was there.

"Me and Radarr will search the hallways and living quarters. Piper you search your crystal lab, and Junko you take the Engine Room" Directed Aerrow.

Everyone left the bridge to go to his or her assigned search areas. As soon as the bridge door closed, Stork let out a breath be didn't realise he had been holding.

"_That was close, I was sure Piper could tell I was lying"_

Stork felt slightly guilty for lying to his friends, but shrugged it off, knowing it had to be done if he intended to stay this way.

He started half-heartedly searching around the room; if someone was to walk onto the bridge and see he wasn't even looking, it could blow this whole charade. After only a few minutes, a loud noise echoed through the ship.

BOOOOOM-SPLAT!!!!

Everyone on the Condor to jumped, with the exception of Stork; who just chuckled evilly to himself and they all quickly rushed to the kitchen.

When they arrived, they were greeted with the strange sight of Finn, plastered to the wall with black, sticky, foul-smelling goop. They all covered their noses at the pungent stench; Aerrow asked Finn what had happened, though his voice was muffled by his fingers pinching his nose.

"I don't know! I just opened the fridge and suddenly –SPLAT!"

Piper knew only one person who could engineer a trap like that. She looked over at Stork and could see he had his hands over his face, trying to cover the fact that he was trying desperately not to laugh.

"Stork, did you booby-trap the fridge?!"

Stork knew he'd been caught; he lowered his hands and laughed openly at Finn's misfortune.

"Just a little payback for the stunt he pulled earlier with the spit ball." He confessed.

Piper looked back to Finn, who looked disgusted by the feel and smell of the stuff that was stuck to him. She had to admit, it was pretty funny, and he totally deserved it. She burst out laughing, causing the others to join in too. It took several minutes for them to die down to giggles and eventually stop; Aerrow wiped a tear from his eye before turning his attention to Stork.

"Alright, you've had your fun. Now let's get this cleaned up."

Stork was more than happy to oblige, it had been totally worth it, and he had prepared a spray can especially for this purpose. Once the mess had been cleared, they all returned to their search.

* * *

It took hours, they searched the ship from top to bottom, leaving nothing unchecked, but they did not find the crystal. They found several other things in their search; old socks, secret stashes of candy, crossbow bolts, bits of metal, a few Paralyser Stones and a small stack of dirty magazines (Finn denied they were his, Stork confiscated them and locked them in a safe only he knew the combination to).

Not knowing what else to do, everyone had resumed their usual activities. Junko was fixing up the skimmers, Finn was playing guitar (badly) in his room, Stork had resumed flying the ship and Aerrow and Radarr were combat training.

Piper had retreated to her lab and was trawling through her crystal books. Now she knew what the crystal did, she was hoping she could find something about it. She couldn't help but feel there was something very _fishy_ about all this. How could a crystal just vanish into thin air? And then there had been Stork's obvious lie, what was he hiding?

Piper's thoughts were interrupted when she found something. She read the section in the book she was holding, it was very old and some parts were impossible to read, but some of the information she needed was still intact. She smiled widely before heading to the bridge to tell the others of her discovery.

* * *

When everyone had gathered around the table on the bridge, she told everyone what she had found.

"It's a Geno Stone" She explained "They are extremely rare and only two such crystals have ever been recorded found"

"This could make getting the old Stork back a bit tricky if we can't find it" Said Aerrow, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

Stork wanted to say that he was still the same guy only improved and that he didn't want to be the 'old Stork' again, but he bit back the words before they could slip out.

"Actually…according to this, there is a way of reversing its effects without it."

She squinted at the ancient text, trying to make out the instructions scrawled on the faded paper before continuing.

"Apparently, combining a Null Crystal and an Enhancer Stone will cancel out the effects of the Geno Stone. But these crystals a pretty rare, and could take some time to find…unless…"

Aerrow seemed to read her mind before he asked.

"Gunstaff?"

"Gunstaff"

* * *

_A/N: The Geno Stone comes from the word Genome, and also sort of resembles one. I wanted a DNA related name but Gene seemed too obvious and Helix had already been taken (I'm sure Piper would recognise one if she saw it). _

_Also, About the Null crystal and Enhancer thing, I know a Null crystal is used for healing purposes (under certain conditions, according to Piper, see the episode Five Days) but I figured the Null might be short for Nullify; i.e. to cancel out. And the Enhancer Stone to make it more powerful. I could've just made up some crystals, but I'm lazy._

_I need my review-fix, review please!  
_


	6. A Clucking Disaster

**Chapter 6 – A Clucking Disaster**

It didn't take long to arrive at Gunstaff's Terra and Stork skilfully manoeuvred the old carrier ship into a gutter on the enormous house that inhabited the relatively small Terra.

For once, Stork didn't insist on staying with the ship, and everyone was shocked when they found him sat in the seat of the Stork-Mobile rearing to go. Stork didn't even know why he wanted to go, he just felt that he needed to.

Once they had all departed the Condor on their skimmers, they made their way to the ground and parked their skimmers on the grass outside a small hole in the brickwork of the monstrous house. They stepped through (or squeezed through, in the case of Junko) and quietly made their way across the immense cavernous room towards the vault.

Stork tiptoed cautiously behind the others, shuffling uncomfortably because the new ill-fitting shoes on his feet. Before they left, Piper had decided that he shouldn't be bare-footed and had borrowed a pair from Aerrow (with a clean pair of socks, of course). They were a little small for him, but he refused to wear any of Finns; no amount of disinfectant could convince him to wear _those_ foul-smelling germ factories.

Unlike the last time they were here, there was no sign of Gunstaff anywhere, though they knew he wouldn't be far away.

Halfway across the room, they suddenly heard the loud booming footsteps of the giant coming towards them.

"Scramble!" Ordered Aerrow as quietly as he could.

* * *

Gunstaff walked into the room from what appeared to be an adjoining kitchen area, placing some wooden cutlery on the table in the middle of the room before returning to the kitchen.

Luckily, at Aerrow's command, everyone wasted no time in running in different directions, finding something to hide behind.

Aerrow sniffed the air, now that he thought about it, there was the smell of cookery in the air "it must be close to his dinnertime, and I'd rather it wasn't us on the menu. We have to be quick if we're going to pull this off…" Aerrow whispered to Piper who had hidden close by, before picking up his radio and speaking quietly into it.

"Everyone call in!"

One by one, each Storm Hawk radioed in, relaying to the others their location.

Finn and Junko had hidden in an old boot, which had been left on its side in the middle on the room. Aerrow, Piper and Radarr were behind some mountain-sized boxes, closest to the vault.

Stork had managed to dive for cover behind a frying pan, which was leaning against the wall right next to the opening to the kitchen area, where Gunstaff currently was.

Aerrow decided that Stork should keep an eye on Gunstaff from his current location, and radio them if he comes back. Stork grumbled about being assigned this potentially dangerous task, but agreed to do it nonetheless.

The others made their way over to the oh-so-familiar crystal vault, but unlike the other times they had been here, the door was closed. They all looked up at the door handle that was high above them, far out of their reach.

"So…How're we gonna get in?" Asked Junko.

Aerrow smiled as an idea formed in his head.

* * *

Stork fidgeted nervously in his hiding place, peering cautiously around the doorframe for the man that could not only smush you into a pulp just by accidentally stepping on you, but also regarded normal-sized people as 'vermin' which needed to be exterminated.

"Oh…this is bad…this is bad…." He muttered to himself, wringing his hands and trying to calm himself before he had a panic attack.

Suddenly a noise brought him back to reality, which caused him to jump and he quickly fumbled with the radio in case the person they most wanted to avoid was coming back.

Instead he came face to face with…feathers. A great wall of…feathers. On closer inspection, he realised that it was the rear of a two-story-tall chicken, which had wandered close to his hiding place and now stood right in the way, making it impossible to see.

He looked across the room and saw Radarr scurrying across the floor towards him. Suddenly, a devious plan formed in his mind, he could see clearly how he could stop his friends from gaining access to the vault and getting the crystals they needed to change him back.

Without even a second thought, he grabbed one of the colossal tail-feathers in front of him and pulled with as much strength as he could muster.

* * *

The others, meanwhile, were wishing Aerrow had come up with a better plan to get into the vault. They were currently stacked on top of each other, Junko on the bottom and Piper on top, swaying madly as they tried to get themselves into the right position for Piper to grab the handle.

"I got it!" She called as she tried to put enough weight on it to pull it down.

"Hurry up Piper! I don't know how much time we've got!" Aerrow called back.

Before they had turned themselves into a human pyramid, he had send Radarr to check on Stork, and he hoped he wouldn't get himself into any trouble before he got there.

* * *

A loud screech of a hen in pain echoed through the room, and the creature (which had been minding its own business until it had one of its tail feathers yanked out) began to flap around the room in a panic, but recovered when she caught sight of Radarr.

For reasons that nobody had ever been able to fathom, Radarr appeared to be a _magnet_ for all clucking and feathered creatures across the Atmos, regardless of what size they happen to be. In short, the hen fell head-over-heels in love with Radarr, running and flapping towards him, clucking enthusiastically.

Radarr squawked in alarm when he saw the love-struck monstrosity approaching and ran for his life, the hen following hot on his heels as she chased him all around the room.

All the commotion was enough alert Gunstaff and he quickly stopped what he was doing to investigate.

Stork, remembering it was supposed to be his job to alert them, picked up his radio.

"Guys! He's coming!"

But it was too late. Gunstaff had spotted the hen chasing Radarr and looked over to see _vermin_ trying to get into his crystal vault.

"ACK! _VERMIN_!" He boomed in his thick German accent "I _HATE_ VERMIN!"

He picked up his mace and held it menacingly as he made his way to the crystal vault.

The hen, startled, had stopped chasing Radarr and had ran off to hide from her master's violent rage and Radarr, no longer being pursued, ran over to Stork.

The others were still on each others shoulders when Gunstaff reached them, and Aerrow let go of Piper's ankles, making himself and Finn fall to the ground, narrowly avoiding being hit with the mace as it swung by where they had been only moments ago.

Piper leaped off the handle as Gunstaff took another swing, severely warping the metal door just above the handle where it made contact, and she landed safely in Junko's arms.

"Everyone, fall back!" Shouted Aerrow, heading back to the hole where they came in.

Everyone made a mad dash for the exit, trying to avoid being hit by the frantic swings of the giant's mace as he flailed desperately trying to hit someone.

They all made it through the narrow gap by the skin of their teeth, as Gunstaff smashed his mace against the wall just as Junko squeezed through.

They had managed to get back to the Condor and take off before Gunstaff ran out of his house, swinging his mace above his head and yelling in rage at the retreating ship.

* * *

"Well." Said Piper, when they were a safe distance "Looks like we won't be getting our crystals from there, it's just too dangerous"

They all nodded in agreement, except Stork, who was at the helm, facing away from them so that no one could see the guilt that was written all over his face.

"Don't worry, Piper. We'll find some other way" Said Aerrow, smoothly.

"So…" Began Finn "…Does this mean we can go to Terra Ray?"

They all turned and scowled at him.

"What?"

* * *

Not knowing what else they could do right now, they surrendered to Finn's constant whining and had resumed course to Terra Ray for a few days vacation. It took them the best part of a day to get there, and by the time they arrived it was already well past nightfall.

Stork moored the ship and headed warily to his room. The days events had taken it's toll on him, he couldn't believe he had been human for less than a day and already he had been scared half to death, nearly crashed into the wastelands, lied to everyone, and endangered the lives of himself and his friends for his own selfish desires.

He opened his wardrobe and went to reach up for his tape player then stopped and looked at the Piper pictures. Suddenly, all his guilty feelings simply faded away and his actions earlier that day seemed totally worth it. This deeply disturbed him and he forgot his tiredness as his brain went into overdrive.

"_I must have caught some kind of disease! Something that affects my sense of rationality, it could be any number of things! What if it's MINDWORMS or something worse! Oh, this is bad, this is bad…"_

He started wringing hishands and his eye twitched madly as thoughts of his demise through any horrible disease he could think of ran through his mind. Shaking madly, he reached for one of his many medical encyclopaedias he kept on the bookshelf in his room and started frantically searching through the pages trying to match up his symptoms, and silently hoping that what he had wasn't contagious and could be cured.

Little did he know that the Geno Stone, still in its hiding place, was glowing brightly, its colour shifting from turquoise blue to a deep pinky-purple before the colour shifted back and light faded and it became dim once more…

* * *

_I bet you're all wondering: "What is happening to poor Storky? And what has the crystal got to do with it?" Well, stay tuned for the next few chapters and all will be explained!_

_Review please!_


	7. Sun, Sea, No Tsunami’s Please

**Chapter 7 – Sun, Sea, No Tsunami's Please**

The next morning, Stork was up before everyone else, as usual, but this was mainly due to the fact that he never went to bed. He had spent the whole night looking through his medical books and he had not been able to match up his symptoms to any disease, parasite or ANYTHING that explained what was happening to him. But he wasn't about to give up yet, it just meant that he would now have to run tests for _everything_.

He was sat at the table in the kitchen, black coffee in hand, and trying desperately not to doze off when Piper walked in.

"Morning Stork!" She said, cheerfully.

Stork let out a barely audible mumble in response.

"What's the matter? Didn't you sleep well?" She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder and sitting down next to him so she could see his face.

He looked totally exhausted, there were bags under his eyes, and his hair was a mess. After a few moments he suddenly seemed to realise she was touching him, and he flinched away from her as if he'd been burned.

"GAHH!!!"

Piper quickly pulled her hand away, Stork saw the hurt look in her eyes. It pained him to see her upset, but he couldn't risk infecting her, if whatever he had was contagious.

"Sorry, I'm just…tired"

"Hey, is this about what happened at Gunstaff's Terra yesterday?"

Piper saw the change in his expression, it was all the answer she needed. She could see he needed to be cheered up, and knew just how to do it.

"Don't worry, it wasn't your fault, we'll find a way to get the crystals we need to change you back."

"_If only you knew…"_ thought Stork sadly.

"Breakfast?" she asked, getting up and moving towards the stove.

Stork really wasn't in the mood right now, but his growling stomach made his head nod in response of its own accord.

Piper started rummaging through the fridge and cupboards for the ingredients she needed before busily setting to work.

Stork must have dozed off for a few minutes; because he was suddenly jerked awake by the most revolting stench he had ever experienced assaulting his nostrils.

"Ugh! What is that smell? It smells worse that Finn's socks, Radarr's breath and Junko's cooking combined!"

He looked around trying to find where it was coming from, only to find out when a plate was put in front of him. It was another Merb Cabbage omelette, at least, it _looked_ like a Merb Cabbage omelette, but it certainly didn't smell like it did before. Not wanting to offend her, he cut off a piece and picked it up with his fork, trying not to breathe through his nose as he did so, and put it in his mouth.

"_Oh GODS, this is HORRIBLE! I'd rather eat some of Junko's Candy Slugs then be subjected to this torture! But if I don't eat it, then Piper will be upset and never speak to me again and I'll fall into a pit of despair and I'll be DOOMED!"_

Stork tried not to spit it out and instead, swallow it quickly so he wouldn't have to taste it very much, he succeeded on the third attempt, after it threatened to make him vomit on the first two.

Stork hadn't realised that Piper had been watching him the whole time, wanting to catch another glimpse of the blissful expression she had seen on him before, but instead caught the look of revolt from her cooking. Not wanting to offend her, he asked casually:

"Urm…did you do anything…differently from last time?"

"No…I don't think so…WAIT!" She smacked her hand over her face before she continued "Merb Cabbage! Of Course! Why didn't I think of that?" she said, putting her head in her hands.

She caught Stork's puzzled look and tried to explain.

"It has Merb Cabbage in it, you're not a Merb anymore, you're a human, which means you have a human sense of taste. No wonder you didn't like it!"

"So, that's what it tastes like for human's? I knew no-one else liked it but I didn't expect it to be _that _bad! I guess Finn wasn't exaggerating when he said it was the worst thing he ever tasted, I thought said it just to avoid eating anything remotely healthy."

"Yeah, well, if it was up to Finn, he'd eat nothing but Flame Corn and Cloud Candy!" She chuckled.

Stork chuckled slightly, knowing it was true.

"I could make you something else if you like, Sandcakes maybe?"

"Uh, no. I'm not really hungry anyway, I gotta go..." Stork said, before getting up and leaving the kitchen, leaving a confused Piper all alone.

* * *

That day, Stork decided to not to come out to the beach with the others but instead opted to say on the Condor. Piper decided not to try and force him, she knew that if she did, he'd only end up sulking and will eventually sneak back to the ship as soon as no-one was looking.

As she arrived at their spot on the beach, she laid out her beach towel and started putting on suntan lotion as she began to wonder where they were going to get the crystals they needed. It wasn't that she didn't like the way Stork looked now; in fact, she thought he looked very handsome, it was just that he seemed, somehow…false. She knew he was the same person on the inside, it just didn't feel like the real him. It wasn't who she fell in love with, and she shuddered at the thought that she would never see her sexy green Merb again.

She silently vowed that she would not give up until she had the real Stork back as she lay down to soak in the morning sun.

* * *

That evening, Junko said he would cook them all a feast, it wasn't in celebration of anything, it was just that he was looking for an excuse to have a luau. The others had tried to talk him out of it, careful not to hurt the Wallop's feelings in doing so, but Junko seemed oblivious to his friend's feelings towards his usual menu choices and he insisted on cooking anyway.

They all sat nervously around the huge dining table that had been set up on the beach and surrounded by Hawaiian-style torches, there was a bunch of covered plates scattered across the table, and Junko was just returning with the rest.

"Dig in guys!" said Junko, as he began lifting the lids off the plates.

They all looked at the horrors that Junko had prepared, knowing that at least some of it would be fatal for any human who dared to eat it, it didn't help that some of the dishes were sluggishly making their way across the table of their own accord.

They did find several dishes that seemed at least edible, and didn't taste bad either, though they didn't dare ask what they were, in case they didn't like the answer. Junko either didn't mind that his friends were not eating much, or he was too busy stuffing himself to notice.

Piper merely picked at the food on her plate, even if it had been something she enjoyed she still wouldn't have eaten it. She wanted to check on Stork, he had been in a bad mood when she had left him this morning, and she didn't know if he had lunch, let alone dinner. Standing up, she turned to Junko.

"I'm going to go and check on Stork"

"Okay" said Junko in between bites.

Aerrow, Finn and Radarr all looked longingly at Piper as she left, wishing that they all had an excuse to leave the table. Junko had said he had something 'special' planned for dessert, and they all knew that whatever it was, if he called it 'special' it couldn't be good.

As Piper approached the Condor, she noticed a strange silhouette on the outside of the ship, as she got closer, she could see the light from the moon reflecting off of it making her able to make out the shape. It was Stork. He was sat on one of the pontoons, apparently looking up at the stars.

As the light hit his features she could see he looked strangely calm, yet the moonlight reflecting off his eyes have her the impression that he looked sad, it was a sight that pulled at her heartstrings. She didn't take her eyes off him the whole time she was approaching the ship, the scene reminded her of something she read in a romantic novel once, and she felt a strong urge to comfort him.

She walked into the Condor's hangar and made her way up the ladder to the outside of the ship to where Stork currently was.

* * *

Stork was miserable. He had performed every test he knew, and all came back negative. He wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not; on the plus side he wasn't dying, but then again, if there wasn't anything to cause it, then the only logical explanation was that it had been him.

"_Does this mean I'm turning…EVIL!"_ thought Stork, panicking slightly, his eyes darting all around before he got a grip on himself. _"No"_ he decided, "_if I was evil I would have killed Finn a long time ago."_

He remembered someone once told him that people sometimes do stupid things when they are in love, he never really paid any attention to that stuff then, but he was beginning to think that maybe it was all true.

Stork sighed. Maybe love was more complicated than he thought…

Suddenly he heard a noise behind him and he turned towards the hatch that lead into the ship where he was greeted by a shock of spiky blue hair which was followed by Piper as she ascended the ladder.

"Hi, Stork" she greeted

"Hi" he replied, he couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight of her. She was still wearing her bikini from when she was sunbathing earlier, except she had tied a sarong around her waist before she went for dinner, but it was rather…transparent. Stork tried not to let his eyes wander over her body as she approached and sat down next to him, horribly aware that it would be very obvious to her if he was to get aroused in these shorts.

They sat in silence for several minutes, Stork had resumed stargazing to avoid accidentally looking somewhere on Piper that he shouldn't, while Piper had been mentally debating whether or not he would freak out at what she was going to do next.

"Need a hug?" she said leaning close to him.

Stork's head shot up at hearing his, but Piper had grabbed him around the waist and pulled him into a firm hug before he had time to object. Stork's heart started hammering in his chest and his muscles tensed violently in response to the electric feeling that was running down his spine from Piper's touch, but Piper wasn't about to let him go that easily, she needed this just as much as he did.

Stork desperately tried to calm down, remembering to run through the mental exercises he'd learned from his self-hypnotherapy tapes.

'_Don't tense up Stork! Calm down, relax, relax….relax…' _he told himself. Slowly his muscles relaxed and he melted into the hug, putting his arms around her and leaning his head on Pipers shoulder as he did so.

Stork felt happy, this was the kind of contact he'd always wanted, but never thought he'd get because they were so different, both physically and mentally, and being here this way gave him a renewed hope that maybe now had a chance with Piper. No way would she had hugged him like this had he still been a Merb.

They stayed in their embrace for some time, Stork wasn't sure how long exactly, he'd wanted to stay like that forever, but his senses had just started to become aware he could feel Piper's bikini bra and what it contained pressed up against his bare chest and he reluctantly pulled away, smiling sheepishly.

She smiled back at him, a slight blush dusting her cheeks before she spoke.

"Want to come down for dinner?"

Stork chuckled "With Junko's cooking? No thanks."

"Actually the food he cooked is fine"

Stork looked at her with a disbelieving stare.

"Alright…some of it isn't that bad." She said crumbling under the stare. "Tell you what, I'll make us up a batch of Sandcakes, how does that sound?"

A wide smile spread across Stork's face as he replied.

"I'd like that."

Piper stood and helped Stork to his feet as they both made their way back into the ship.

* * *

_Sorry if it seems like there isn't much going on in this chapter, but the story seemed too rushed without it and I think it needed the little fluffy moment at the end. The action starts next chapter, promise!_

_Please review, it makes me happy!_


	8. Oh No, The Hens Are Back!

_Wow! 20 reviews for 7 chapters?! Thank you, all of you!_

_Extra long chapter, because I love ya all!_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 8 – Oh No, The Hens Are Back!**

It was the second day on Terra Ray and Radarr had had enough. All morning he had stuck by his read-haired boy while he had 'fun', which had left Radarr waterlogged, sandy, his head hurt from where a rogue volleyball had hit him and on top of that, he had nearly lost his swim shorts during one of Aerrow's crazy surf-boarding stunts (not that he had much to hide being furry, but it's the principle of the thing). So he was off to find somewhere quiet, where he could dry off his dripping-wet fur.

He left the scorching hot sand and wandered down the path that lead towards the dining area, but had to quickly dive into the undergrowth when a group of young kids ran down the path and threatened to trample him. He was about to growl in frustration at them when a noise from behind made him stop and turn.

"Bwuck?" came a familiar voice.

He appeared to have jumped into a small clearing, where about half-a-dozen hens had gathered. After the incident a few days ago, he had hoped he wouldn't see another hen for a long time, and to make it worse, he was sure that this was the same group he had encountered that time he had been left behind during that pit stop.

He wondered how they always knew where he was, and how they got there; were they stalking him or something? The leader, a whitish-yellow hen fluttered her eyelashes at him and clucked seductively, while the others behind her which were all brown and huddled together did the same.

Radarr took a step back, they stepped forward, he let out a chirp which would probably have translated to: "Oh shi-!" before he turned tail and ran. He started out on two legs but quickly switched to four when they started gaining on him, they chased him up the Condor's ramp and into the hangar, sending a flurry of feathers behind them as they went.

Radarr paused for a moment as he figured out what to do next, before opening a service panel and jumping inside. Unfortunately, the group saw him do this, and the yellow hen leaped in behind him, but the rest tried to jump in all at once, causing them to get jammed in the small opening, unable to get free despite their best efforts.

That left Radarr with just the one to worry about, and she didn't seem to want to give up. She was able to track his movements all along the narrow pathways of the ship, and Radarr was starting to tire. He stopped to get his breath back, he must have gone through the whole ship by now!

That's when something caught his eye, he could see something glowing down one of the dark corridors, he followed it curiously and that's when he found the crystal. Judging by the spiderweb of cables down here, he must be somewhere around the bridge. He didn't have time to wonder how it got there before a clucking noise alerted him that he'd been found.

Radarr took a step back, tripping over the crystal still lodged in the power cables and crawled backwards in an attempt to get away from the approaching hen. As the love-struck creature approached the retreating Radarr, she stepped onto the dimly-glowing crystal and the whole passageway was suddenly engulfed in a blinding light.

When Radarr opened his eyes, he was met with quite a sight; where the hen had stood was now a yellow and white version of himself, clearly female and looking very confused. She looked at herself and suddenly realised what happened. She slowly came closer, batting her eyelashes at him.

This time Radarr didn't run away, in fact he was about to approach her when suddenly he remembered the crystal, he had to take it to the others! He chirped at length to his new girlfriend, explaining what he had to do, she nodded before he removed the crystal from the cables and headed back to the beach.

* * *

When Radarr arrived, he found his friends gathered around under a large beach umbrella, apparently having just finished eating.

"Where've you bin Radarr?" Asked Junko, his words muffled by the two-foot-long sandwich he had just stuffed in his mouth.

Radarr jumped up and down, chirping excitedly before he remembered they couldn't understand him. He reached into the pocket of his shorts and brought out the crystal, holding it up so they could all see.

"The crystal, you found it!" exclaimed Piper

She looked around and saw that several people who were nearby had stopped to see what the excitement was about. She quickly hid it from view and lowered her voice to talk to the others.

"We should do this back at the Condor."

* * *

When Radarr had shown up with the crystal, Stork had visibly paled, though he was thankful that everyone had their back to him so they couldn't see it. He had _known_ it was a bad idea to let Piper drag him out today, he should have stayed on the Condor where it was safe.

The group walked slowly back to the old carrier ship, Stork was smiling slightly but only on the outside. On the inside he felt like he was being led to the gallows, which was deeply confusing, he knew he wasn't going to meet his doom in any way, so why did he feel as if he was? _"Because you will lose any chance you have with Piper"_ came a voice from deep inside Stork's subconscious.

As they began to walk up the ramp, he knew there was no turning back, he wasn't going to make the same mistake he did last time. He was not going to be responsible for endangering the lives of his friends and the love of his life this time, even if it meant he could never be with her.

When they arrived on the bridge, they were all surprised when a yellowish-white Radarr appeared out of no-where and stated to hug their furry friend. Radarr was clearly embarrassed by the attention he was getting in front of his teammates and was glad that no-one could see the deep blush he had under his fur.

The others stared in shock for several minutes. They had never found out what species Radarr is and they had certainly never seen another like him, yet here she was, as clear as day. Aerrow was the first to snap out of his shocked state, he cleared his throat before addressing his co-pilot.

"So..uh…Who's your friend Radarr?"

Radarr managed to pry himself out of her iron grip to answer Aerrow's question. After thinking for a moment, he bent his arms and put his hands on his back to simulate wings and did his best to make clucking sounds, unfortunately, it came out more like a quack.

"Duck!" yelled Finn in excitement. He loved charades, but he rarely got to play it because none of the crew was any good at it, including him, so he took every opportunity to shout out answers whenever Radarr wanted to tell them something.

Radarr slapped his face and shook his head at the sharpshooter before trying again, this time making pecking motions at the ground.

"Uhhh…Sky Food Combo?" asked Junko.

Radarr stopped and squawked '_What?!'_

"…Mmmm…Sky Food Combo" Said Junko, licking his lips and already starting to drool.

Radarr shook his head in disbelief and turned to the others, hoping that someone else had understood, but saw only blank incomprehension of their faces. He sighed, they really needed to come up with a better way to communicate. Suddenly an idea struck him and he ran out of the room, returning a few minutes later with a photograph.

Radarr held it up for them to see, it was the same photograph he had in the cockpit that time they went to the edge of space. He tapped the picture a few times with his finger before pointing towards his cream-coloured friend.

Aerrow's eyes widened as comprehension dawned, now that he looked at her, there were similarities to the hen that was constantly following Radarr, it also explained why her chirps sounded more like clucks.

"So, she's….."

Radarr chirped and nodded, confirming Aerrow's assumptions.

"Oh…wow"

At that point, the 'hen' decided that he had explained enough and started hugging Radarr again. Radarr escaped from her grip and ran a little way down the corridor before stopping and beaconing her to follow, which she did with enthusiasm and within moments the both of them were gone.

Aerrow never understood the relationship that Radarr had with this hen, half the time he appeared to be scared of her, yet he had a photograph of her? Sometimes, he really didn't understand his furry friend….

"Betcha I know what those two are doing!" said Finn, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively, a big goofy grin on his face.

"Uh, what?" asked Junko, who had failed to interpret Finn's suggestive tone.

Finn opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Piper.

"Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself Finn!" snapped Piper as she handed the crystal to Stork.

Stork gulped and stared into the turquoise depths.

"_Better get this over with"_ he thought before raising his hand and preparing to activate the crystal.

The crystal glowed a little brighter for a few seconds, before the light faded and the crystal became dim once again. Stork immediately noticed the look of confusion on his teammates faces as they stood around him, and he lifted a hand up cautiously to examine it.

Stork's heart back flipped with joy at what he saw (though he didn't let it show to the others), but he couldn't help but share in their confusion.

He was still Human.

It hadn't worked.

* * *

Piper walked down a shaded, rarely-used path that lead from the beach to a small secluded library away from the usual sounds of typical beach-goers and dining areas. Most holiday resorts have a library of sorts, even if it is only one small bookshelf, for those people who like to quietly read during their time off. This one was bigger than most, because of the large amount of people who holidayed on the terra all the time, but it was still only a shack constructed of Bamboo and grass and about the size of a small cottage.

After the Geno Stone had failed to turn Stork back to normal, she had desperately wanted to do some research to find out the reason why, but she knew the boys wouldn't want to cut their vacation short to go and find a decent library, it was a long shot her finding anything helpful here, but it was worth a try.

When she entered into the dry, musky innards of the hut, she was met with a big surprise. Like all libraries everywhere in the universe, there were far more books here then you would think, if fact, it seemed to stretch much further than the laws of physics should allow. From the outside, it didn't look like it could have more than one floor, but as her gaze rose she could see a balcony with books on shelves where she knew there shouldn't be shelves.

She tried to get her head around how all this was possible, but only succeeded in giving herself a major headache. She gave up, it wasn't important anyway, she was on a mission, and she had far more chance at finding a book that could help her in all of this.

After some time searching through the reference section, she found what she was looking for. It was the same book she had on the Condor, which had information on the Geno Stone, except that this one was in far better condition than hers. After checking her book out with the librarian (who looked way too hairy to be human, but she didn't pass comment), she headed back to the beach.

When she got there, she settled on her beach towel and flipped the book open to the section she needed. She read the section that had been unreadable in her copy, then she read it again. She understood what it had said but she just couldn't believe it.

As she read it a third time, suddenly everything that had happened over the last few days clicked into place and it all made sense.

"He doesn't want to change back…" she whispered.

"What?"

Piper jumped slightly, she hadn't noticed that Aerrow had returned to their spot and sat down on the towel beside her.

She looked down, she wasn't sure if she should keep this to herself or not. Looking up she saw he had only concern in his eyes, maybe it would help to tell someone.

"I found out some more information on the Geno Stone, I…I know why it didn't work"

Aerrow could see her reluctance to tell him, so he reached for the book so he could read for himself. As she passed the book, she indicated to him the relevant section.

"…_the Geno Stone is said to call out to people who have the desire to be of another species, whether it be consciously or subconsciously, sometimes inducing a trance-like state to get them to make physical contact with the crystal so it can be activated. _

_Once the subject has been transformed by the crystal it is often difficult to return them to their original state as The Geno Stone will only work on someone who is willing, though the effects can be reversed using a combination of other crystals [see page 247]._

_The reasons behind this have not been completely verified, but it is believed that the crystal affects the subconscious of the subject and makes them very reluctant to return to their original state as long and they still have reasons to remain in their current one, sometimes affecting their mental and emotional state to prevent it by any means necessary..."_

When Aerrow had finished reading the section, he thought silently for a few minutes before voicing the question that they were both thinking.

"The question is, what are his reasons?"

Piper sat and thought for a few more minutes before she finally answered.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

While Piper had been silent, Aerrow had been scanning the other sections that related to the crystal, before he spotted something of interest.

"Hey, it says here that the Geno Stone is a very powerful crystal and if you combine it with some other rare crystals, it can be turned into a powerful weapon! It's probably not a good idea to let this fall into the hands of the Cyclonians, where is the crystal now?"

"It's been locked up in my crystal vault on the ship, Aerrow." Said Piper peevishly, annoyed at the fact that Aerrow had been thinking about weaponry at a time like this. She thought that Aerrow could be so immature sometimes.

She rubbed her temples warily, she needed to think about what she was going to say to Stork.

"I'm going for a walk" she announced before she got up and left, leaving Aerrow alone on the beach.

* * *

Hidden in the darkness behind them, a pair of yellow eyes had been watching them, listening to their every word. As the shadows moved, it revealed set of razor-sharp teeth, grinning devilishly in the darkness.

* * *

_Sorry about the Discworld reference in this chapter, I couldn't resist. All references to L-Space belong to Terry Pratchett._


	9. Something Scaly This Way Comes

_Sorry for the delay guys, I've been sick with the flu so I havn't really been writing much, but better late than never, enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Something Scaly This Way Comes**

The afternoon sun shone down on the glistening sandy shores of Terra Ray. It was a beautiful day, but all this was lost on the Raptors, who were hidden in the undergrowth. Spitz was annoyed, but this is a normal frame of mind for a Raptor, but he was far more annoyed than he usually was.

He and his brothers Hoek and Lugey were on their way back to Bogaton, from their recent failed mission when Lugey had suddenly insisted that he needed to go to the bathroom and that it couldn't wait until they got back to Bogaton.

Spitz reluctantly headed to the nearest Terra for his brother, knowing that he'd probably be the one who'd have to clean Lugey's skimmer if he had an accident, and that is almost as bad as any of the punishments that Repton has in his arsenal when he is in a bad mood.

As you might guess, Raptors were not exactly welcome on most Terras, so it was lucky for them that Lugey was not fussy about where he used the *ahem* facilities, as Repton never let him use the indoor bathroom anyway, not after what happened last time; it took 3 days before it was safe to venture in there last time…

Spitz stood tapping his foot impatiently waiting for his brother to finish, not that wanted to get back to Bogaton to receive the roasting he'd get from Repton for their recent failure, but he'd long ago found out that the longer Repton was kept waiting, the worse the punishment would be.

"Are you done yet Lugey?" He called over his shoulder, careful to keep his gaze trained elsewhere so as not to get a glimpse of something he'd rather not see.

"Dah, don't rush me!" he called back, from somewhere in the vicinity of a large bush.

Spitz sighed a sigh that sounded more like a hissed growl and resumed him impatient foot-tapping.

Through all this, Hoek was had been keeping a watchful eye on the people around them through the bushes, making sure that no-one stumbled upon them by accident, when he suddenly noticed something.

"Hey, is that the Storm Hawks?" he said to Spitz, who came over to see where his brother was indicating. Sure enough, a little way away from them was that red-head kid who called himself a sky knight and that female crystal specialist of theirs.

"Yeth, thothe _are_ Thtorm Hawkth!" He snarled, his tongue sticking out serpent-style on each lisp.

"Let's get 'em!" Said Hoek, who made to lunge at the defenceless teens but was stopped by Spitz.

"Idiot! Do you want the whole Terra to know we're here?"

Hoek thought for a minute, deciding that 3 Raptors would stand no chance against several-hundred pissed off people of various species armed with whatever sharp objects they could find to use as makeshift weaponry and he reluctantly backed down.

Turning their attention back to their prey, they heard the read-head was speaking and strained their ears to hear.

"…says here that the Geno Stone is a very powerful crystal and if you combine it with some other rare crystals, it can be turned into a powerful weapon! It's probably not a good idea to let this fall into the hands of the Cyclonians, where is the crystal now?"

"It's been locked up in my crystal vault on the ship, Aerrow!" They heard the female say before getting up and leaving.

"Powerful weapon eh?" Said Spitz, more to himself than Hoek "Maybe if we thteal thith crythtal and bring it to Repton, maybe we won't get roathted after all!"

Spitz tuned his attention back to the lone Sky Knight, a malicious smile splitting across his face.

It had been over an hour since Piper had left Aerrow to go for a walk. She'd hoped that it would help her to think about how to approach Stork about her recent discovery with the Geno Stone, but she was still at a loss as to what she was going to say to him.

She wished she had more time, but she felt it was better to get to the bottom of this sooner rather than later, and also she was very curious as to why he had wanted to change in the first place.

Now she stood outside Stork's bedroom door, she had looked everywhere else on the ship for him and knew that this would be the only other place he'd be. She tried to swallow away her nervousness before slowly raising her hand to lightly knock on his door.

"Come in" came a quiet reply from within.

Piper took and deep, calming breath before she entered Stork's room.

She found Stork lounging on his bed, reading what looked like a book of Doom Poetry, he looked up from his book to look at his visitor, only to jump when he saw it was Piper and attempt to clean up some of many piles of blueprints that were strewn across his desk and floor in an attempt to make his room appear at least half-decent.

"Piper!" He said in astonishment, his voice cracking slightly until he got a grip on himself "W-w-what brings y-you here?" he stuttered nervously, trying to ignore the fact that Piper was in his room and still only wearing a bikini.

Piper looked at him, and seeing the expression on her face Stork could immediately tell that something was wrong. He patted the bed beside him motioning her to sit, which she did, though never breaking eye contact, which gave the paranoid pilot a an awful sense of foreboding.

They sat for several minutes in complete silence, Stork becoming more and more nervous by the second under the weight of Piper's stare before she finally spoke.

"I...I found out some more information about the Geno Stone" she said at last.

Stork swallowed hard, this couldn't be good.

"I read that the crystal only changes people who wanted to be changed in the first place..." she continued.

Stork could tell by the tone of her voice that she was avoiding saying what was on her mind, and knowing it involved the Geno Stone he knew Piper knew what it was, and the full weight of what he had done came crashing down on him like a ton of bricks. He Didn't let her continue her speech, he didn't want to hear the accusing tone in her voice. Just as Piper opened her mouth to start talking again, Stork broke down and the words died in her throat as he suddenly grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug as he unloaded his guilty soul onto her.

"I'm sorry!" He wailed "I knew it was wrong to lie to you all but I...I..." He trailed off before continuing "A-and then I...oh Gods...at Gunstaff's Terra...I could have got you all KILLED! I'm sorry, please forgive me! I just didn't want to lose the only chance I'd ever get with you, I LOVE you! He cried before he realised he'd just confessed way more than he'd meant.

He backed away from her, shrinking into himself as he waited for her to yell at him and tell him never to speak to her again. But to Stork's surprise, it never came, instead she came closer, a strange glint in her eyes.

"It's ok Stork, it wasn't you that did those things, it was the Geno Stone, I know the real Stork would never intentionally hurt us."

Stork brightened up, "_So I'm _not _turning evil after all?_" he thought to himself, before remembering what else he'd told her. He took in a breath to try to explain but Piper beat him to it.

"Do you really love me?" She asked.

Stork bowed his head in shame and nodded, but what came next shocked Stork more than anything he'd ever encountered. He felt Piper press her lips against his cheek and whisper:

"I love you too."

"You do?"

Piper giggled at this, and she was more than a little flattered that all this had been for her, but now more than ever she wanted him back the way he was, and she knew just how to convince him.

"I never minded that you were a Merb, in fact, that's what I liked best about you, you were...unusual, but in a good way." Stork leaned in as if to kiss her, but Piper pressed a finger to his lips and stopped him.

"But if we're going to be together, I want the old Stork, green skin and all."

Stork thought for a moment, before coming to a decision. In truth, Stork had never really minded being a Merb, but for some reason he had it in his head that being a human would solve all his problems, he felt silly for believing that now, because although it was different, it was also somehow the same.

"I'll do it."

It was dark, but the Raptors knew they couldn't turn on a light in case it alerted someone to their presence, not that they could find a light switch anyway, but the plan was to get in, get what they wanted and get out without triggering any of those goddamn booby traps that that _toad_ had scattered all over the ship, besides, Raptors were built for stealth.

A sudden crash followed by several groans of pain came just as that thought came to mind and he sighed. Out of all the Raptors in the Atmos that Spitz had to be with, it had to be the only two that had all the stealth of a Blizzarian wearing a neon sign with "Here I am" written on it.

"Ssssshhhhhhhhh!" he said, showering them with spit as his did so due to his lisp.

The other two looked sheepishly at their brother before they continued on, eventually making it through the bowels of the ship into a dimly-illuminated corridor, filled with doors. None of the Raptors wanted to admit that they had no idea where the crystal vault was located, but that wasn't going to stop them, they would just have to check each room one by one.

The first few rooms were the kitchen and bathroom, obviously not there, but just as Hoek was about to open another random door he stopped and listened. He could distinctly hear voices coming from the other side and signalled to his brothers that they were not alone on the ship. They nodded, they needed to find it quick so they don't get discovered.

Spitz carefully opened another room, this one had crystals lying around and crystal books as well, they must be close. He motioned to his brothers to follow and they entered a room that looked like a cross between a lab and a bedroom. Hoek took out a crystal detector, the crystal that powered it was almost fully depleted, so it could only detect powerful crystals at short range, but that was all it needed, and it only took a minute to discover the secret panel in one of the walls which concealed a small safe.

Spitz grinned, this was going far better than he had anticipated.

"Get to work Hoek!" he commanded before Hoek dug his razor-sharp claws into the iron safe, ripping deep gashes into the metal as he tried to pry the door open.

While his brothers were engaged, Lugey had lost interest and had started looking around for something more interesting to do, that's when he suddenly noticed a small button on the wall next to him. Lugey was one of those people who liked pressing buttons just to see what they did, and he was far from being anything close to smart so he didn't even stop to think about the consequences of what he was about to do before he pressed it.

For a moment nothing happened, and Lugey was about to try pressing it again when two mechanical arms dropped down from the ceiling and stopped inches from his face, they were holding spray cans. Lugey didn't even have time to look confused before the mechanical fingers pressed down and sprayed him in the face with noxious green gas that made his eyes feel like they were on fire.

"OOOOWWWWWEEEOWWWWWEEE!" he screamed in pain before ending in a fit of violent coughs as the noxious gas filled his lungs.

The other two had just pried open the safe and retrieved the crystal when they heard Lugey scream. Spitz was just about the give him another fierce shushing when all the lights suddenly went out and they were plunged into blackness, a moment later a red light filled the room and an alarm began to sound throughout the ship and they heard the automatic door of the room they were in lock.

"Leth get out of here!" shouted Spitz.

Hoek and Spitz flew to the door and tried desperately to force it open with their bare claws. Lugey was still finding it hard to see through his now red swollen eyes, but he was just about able to make out the blurred silhouette of two figures that he recognised as his brothers and thinking he would be left behind, charged towards them at full speed.

The trio landed in a heap on the floor as the door was ripped from its holdings by the sheer force of being hit by a 400 pound Raptor at high speed, but they wasted no time in getting to their feet to make their escape.

"Quick!" hissed Spitz, heading towards the exit.

"I lost my weapon!" whined Lugey

"Leave it, jutht MOVE!" he hissed, grabbing his arm and leading the blinded Raptor out of the ship.

"What was THAT?" Asked Piper as the lights suddenly went out, replaced a few moments later with and eerie red glow and an alarm.

"It's the Brainslug infestation alarm!" Said Stork, getting up off the bed.

Now Piper remembered, Stork has installed one of these alarm buttons in every room a while ago as a precaution against Brainslugs and several other brain-eating parasites that he was scared to death of catching. He received a lot of funny looks from the rest of the team when he explained this to them, and she knew that no-one would dare press one of these buttons even for a practical joke, besides she knew everyone else still outside. Looking over at Stork she could see that he'd come to the same conclusion.

"Intruders! We've got to get out of here!"

"I'm on it!" Said Stork as he set to work overriding the door lock, thinking that maybe adding an automatic lockdown to this alarm was probably not a very practical.

Bangs and crashes could be heard outside the room before it all became silent with the exception of the alarm that was still blaring away and Stork redoubled his efforts.

"Got it!" he yelled in triumph as the door slid open, but they were too late. When they arrived in the hallway, they saw the bent and buckled door to Piper's room in the middle of the hallway, the intruders long gone. Piper entered her room to find the crystal vault torn open and the Geno Stone gone.

"Who could have done this?" Said Piper to no-one in particular.

Stork was pondering over the same thing until he spotted something, picking it up he saw it was a crystal whip, only one group he knew used _those_.

"Raptors" he said.

* * *

_The end is almost here! I'll try to get the final chapter up on time, but it may be delayed, just to give you a heads up._

_Reviews make the best medicine, so don't forget to press that button._


	10. The Final Showdown

_Sorry everyone for the long wait, had a lot going on that's been stressing me out and I can't write under those conditions and the writers block didn't help either._

_Many thanks to all my reviewers, both old and new, I hope there isn't too much action for you, and that you enjoy the final part of the story._

_

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_

**Chapter 10 – The Final Showdown**

The Raptors soared high through the skies of Atmos, they were far from the skies of Terra Ray now and they couldn't believe they had succeeded in robbing their worst enemies. Hoerk and Lugey could barely contain their delight, wooping and high-fiving in celebration of their first victory in what seemed like forever.

Spitz simply smiled, he had to admit it, they had done well, even though their exploits on the Condor had gone far from as well as he'd planned, in fact it has almost turned into a complete disaster, but they had escaped with their prize, that was the important thing.

The hardest part had been trying to get Lugey out of there in one piece, it's surprisingly hard to lead someone three times your width and ten times your weight through a ship in near pitch-blackness.

And then there had been the fun task of trying to drive Lugey's skimmer without him in the drivers seat, they accomplished this by tying their whips to the handlebars and jerkily towing it through the air, each fighting each other for control until Lugey was able to see well enough to switch from Hoerk's skimmer back to his own. His eyes were still red and slightly swollen, and he could still smell that revolting gas lingering in his nostrils even now.

Spitz held up the crystal up to the light and inspected it, it certainly didn't look like any crystal he'd ever seen before and he had no idea what it did, but he hoped it was as powerful as the Storm Hawks said it was or they'd be in trouble.

"Hey, lemme see!"

Lugey had flown up beside him and was reaching out to grab the crystal off his brother, he yelped and quickly snatched it out of his reach before he could grab it, surprised that Lugey had managed to sneak up on him despite the noise the engine on his Bonewing made from carrying his excessive weight on a regular basis.

"No way Lugey! You'd drop it!" said Spitz, securing it in a pouch upon his person and picking up his radio.

For a moment there was only static, then Repton's voice rang through the speaker.

"WHAT?" He snarled, so loud that Spitz had to hold it away from him to avoid his eardrum from being ruptured. His brother was not in a good mood.

"Bothth! We-"

"Ah, you're finally back, I heard from my sources your mission failed. I've been waiting for you, I've got a new energy gun and I was itching for a bit of _target practice_."

Spitz winced, there was a sinister edge to Repton's voice that sent shivers down his spine and Repton rarely went back on his threats. He briefly wondered how Repton found out about these things, if there was someone spying on them he wished he knew who they were so he could kill them.

"Wait, bothth! We've brought a rare and powerful crystal-"pleaded Spitz, but Repton cut him off.

"You'd better not have brought another worthless _cheese_ stone!" Spitz growled under his breath, they steal one crystal that turns anything you aim it at into cheese and Repton wouldn't let them live it down.

"No Bothth! We thtole it from the Thtorm Hawks!"

"Hmmm, Storm Hawks eh? Seems like you idiots did something right for a change. Very well, I won't punish you...for now."

Spitz was relieved, that is, until he heard what sounded like a loud foghorn echo through the cloudscape. He turned, a short distance away was the Condor.

"What was that?" Asked Repton though the Radio.

"It's the Thorm Hawks! They followed uth!"

It didn't take long to get all the Storm Hawks back into their regular uniforms and into full combat mode after Stork and Piper explained to the rest of their teammates that the crystal had been stolen from Pipers safe while they had all been enjoying themselves.

Unfortunately, they also has to tell their teammates about everything else that had been going on as well, like the fact that Stork and Piper were and item now.

The rest of the team took the news surprisingly well, with the exception of Finn, but he was mainly upset at the fact that Stork had managed to get a girlfriend before him.

They were now fast approaching the skies of Bogaton, it was the first place they thought they'd run to and as they approached Aerrow could make out three distinct shapes in the distance as he peered through the periscope and on increasing the magnification, could just make out a shining blue stone being held by one of the trio.

"There they are! And they still have the Geno Stone with them! Finn, Junko, Piper to your skimmers!"

They were out in the air within minutes, Piper, Junko and Finn fired their weapons at the Raptors, Drawing them away from Bogaton and blocking any attempt at escape from the Raptors. So far, so good, now it was time to execute the plan,

"Hey lizard lips!" He called, drawing the Raptors attention "your powerful weapon is useless without these!"

On cue, Radarr pulled out two crystals and held them up for the raptors to see. Time seemed to slow down as the universe held it's breath, waiting for what would happen next.

Spitz gunned his Bonewing towards the sky knight, Hoerk and Lugey following quickly after their brother.

Aerrow quickly whipped his skimmer around, grinning widely when he knew they couldn't see his face, they had taken the bait.

Aerrow manouvered skilfully through the air, staying just out of reach of the Raptors energy whips and drawing them towards the Condor.

"Wait for it, wait for it…" Aerrow said to himself as he dove between the Condors pontoons with the Raptors hot on his tail.

On the bridge of the Condor, Stork stood at the helm, thumb poised over a small red button attached to a joystick-like control, twitching slightly in anticipation of Aerrow's command.

"NOW!" Came Aerrow's voice through the radio.

Stork responded with lightning reflexes and pressed the button, making a large net shoot out from the Condor's underbelly just as Aerrow passed, giving the following Raptors no time to react before they impacted the net at high speed. Stork had made some changes since they used it to catch Aerrow after he went up to the Exosphere, it now had a new sticky substance applied to it so it acted like a spiderweb.

The Raptors growled and struggled against the net, unable to free themselves. Aerrow casually approached, a wide grin on his face.

"Looking for these?" Aerrow said, holding up the crystals he used to lure them sp they could see more clearly. You didn't need to be a genius to see that they were nothing more than a Cooking crystal and a Paralyser stone.

Aerrow chucked at the look of confused rage of Spitz's face before taking the Geno Stone from him.

Aerrow and the rest of the Storm Hawks cheered in victory. 'And Piper said I could't stick to the plan!' thought Aerrow, in the privacy of his own head.

Suddenly, there was a sound of ropes being cut and the Raptors, still sitting astride their Bonewings were free. Aerrow barely had time to register before the Geno Stone was snatched from his hand.

"I'll take that!" It was Repton, he was holding his Boomerang weapon in one hand and the Geno Stone in the other yet he was still somehow able to control his Bonewing.

Normally, the Raptors would simply flee for Bogaton and let the defensive system take down their enemies, but luckily for the Storm Hawks, the defensive system of the Terra was still down from last time. This was mainly because Aerrow (with Starlings help) had taken away the Terradon scientists who were pretty much the whole brains of the lizard species while the Raptors were the brawn and they had no idea how to repair them.

Repton was smart enough to know that he and his brothers were no match for the Storm Hawks, but he knew a way to level the playing field.

"Follow me, boys!" called Repton to his brothers and they fled towards the large network of caves that ran under Terra Bogaton.

_'So much for the plan, time to improvise!_' Thought Aerrow, before he revved his skimmer and followed them.

The caves of Bogaton were a dangerous place, full of narrow tunnels and lined with stalagmites and stalagmites that could easily become your final resting place if you didn't know what was up ahead, but that wouldn't stop Aerrow, he found dangerous places like this a great thrill and seemed to be totally oblivious to any danger.

Aerrow shot into the narrow entrance of the cave without slowing, the others followed much more slowly and cautiously, knowing that they could not manoeuvre as well as Aerrow could.

Finn fired a few shots from his crossbow at Spitz, who managed to dodge them in the narrow tunnel before slicing a Stalagmite from the celing as he passed. The huge rock fell, Finn knew he wouldn't be able to dodge in time, and he simply closed his eyes and waited for the hit he knew would come, which it did a few moments later, but it managed to completely miss the sharpshoot and strike his skimmer instead, making it fall from under him and left him sat astride a skimmer that wasn't there for a few moments before he fell.

Hoerk, who had been engaged with a battle with Junko, suddenly found the wings on one side of his Bonewing torn off as the falling skimmer fell past, casing him to loss control and spiral into one of the many pillars of the cave, activating his parachute as he fell.

Junko, having noticed that it was Finn's skimmer that had fallen and hearing the terrified screams of his best friend, managed to catch him as he passed, dangling upside down by one ankle with his crossbow still in hand.

Finn, seeing the Spitz and Lugey had cornered Piper, and still upside down, fired his crossbow, the bolt impacting Spitz's skimmer and sending him parachuting to safety. Lugey watched as his brother fell, and Piper too advantage of the distraction to deliver a powerful blow directly to Lugey's head him her energy staff. Lugey sat bemused for a moment as stars swirled around his head, before he lost his balance and fell neatly off his Bonewing to join his brothers.

That just left Repton, who was giving Aerrow a run for his money, firing his boomerang again and again at the Sky Knight and growing more and more frustrated as he managed to dodge everything he threw at him.

"I think that's enough fun now, don't you, buddy?" He asked Radarr, who immediately began digging through his sidecar and throwing anything he could find out behind him and directly into the flight path of Repton.

Repton dodged the array of random object that was being hurled at him, that is, until a cloud of feathers hit him in the face, obscuring his view before they blew away in the slipstream just in time for him to be hit square in the face by a plunger. The skimmer descended as Repton release the controls to pry the plunger off his face, he succeeded just before he made impact with the floor.

The storm Hawks landed and faced the Raptors who had gathered together, still refusing to back down despite the fact that they had no rides and there was nowhere to run.

"Hold it right there, Storm Hawks!" Said Repton as Aerrow approached, pulling out the Geno Stone and aiming it at the Sky Knight like a weapon.

This did not have the desired affect as Aerrow ran forward and tackled him in an attempt to snatch the Geno Stone from him, sending the crystal flying out of Repton's grasp and into the air.

The Raptors and Storm Hawks all watch the Geno Stone's flight, and move witjin a split second to try and catch it before it hit the ground and shattered. Lugey dived for it and caught it neatly in one of his huge scaly hands, and then leapt to his feet holding the crystal up triumphantly.

"I got it Boss! I-Uh Oh"

The "Uh-Oh" was due to the crystal suddenly glowing furiously, causing everyone to stop fighting for a moment in order to shield their eyes from the blinding light.

When the light faded, they all stared in shock at what they saw before them. Where Lugey had stood, still holding the crystal in one hand, was a fat green and yellow furred Blizzarian.

Lugey looked down at himself, looking at the changes that had been made to his body.

Despite having about the same IQ as a small glass of swamp water, he seemed to realise what had happened to him surprisingly fast.

"Hey Boss look! I'm all cute and fluffy!" He said, dropping the crystal so he could hug himself.

Aerrow and the rest of the Storm Hawks were able to recover from their state of shock first and Piper was able to pick the crystal up off they floor while the Repton and the other Raptors still stared at Lugey in frozen horror as he continued to giggle and hug the soft fur that now covered his body.

They had mounted their skimmers and were already halfway to the exit before Repton snapped out of it and seeing the Storm Hawks escaping, yelled to his brothers

"Get them!" although there was no way they could catch them without any working skyrides.

Just as The Storm Hawks were heading through the narrow entrance to the cave, Aerrow turned to Junko.

"Junko, seal it!"

Junko activated his Knuckle-Busters and punched the stone wall by the cave entrance with all his strength before following the others. Where Junko had impacted the wall, huge cracks had formed up the walls to the ceiling, causing huge rocks to fall as the cave collapsed, sealing the exit and burying the Raptors in the process.

When the dust settled, there was no movement for several moments until a few rocks moved, revealing a scaly hand, which pushed some more rocks aside before Repton emerged from the rubble and looked around, seeing the other Raptors also digging themselves out in a similar way.

Seeing that the Storm Hawks had escaped their grasp once again Repton let out a roar of pure rage, causing his brothers to flinch, knowing this would not bode well for them.

Back on the bridge of the Condor, far from the skies of Bogaton, the Storm Hawks were celebrating their latest victory.

"Did you see the look on Repton's face when Lugey turned in to a Blizzarian?" Said Finn, bursting out in fits of laugher, before dying down so he could continue "I'll remember that for a long time." He said with a sigh.

Stork has slightly disappointed that he had missed seeing that, but Piper was quick to snap him out of his thought.

"Well Stork…" she said, picking up the Geno Stone and holding it out to him "…Would you like to do the honours?"

Stork didn't hesitate to take the crystal out of her hand and hold it up. With a final glace in the direction new girlfriend, the crystal engulfed him in a blinding light and a moment later the light faded and where a handsome teenage human had once been was Stork, just the way he should be.

Piper wasted no time in rushing over and placing a passionate kiss on his soft green lips. This time, Stork didn't tense up, but instead began to gently kiss her back. The others all smiled at this sight, all that is, except Finn who looked away in disgust and started making gagging noises.

"Ugh, guys, seriously, get a room!"

They parted and let out a chuckle at Finn's discomfort.

That's when Stork noticed Radarr and his new girlfriend, who had her arms around his waist and it appeared that Radarr was becoming tired of all the attention he was receiving from her.

"What are we going to do about her?" Asked Stork.

Piper watched the 'Hen's' display of affection and Radarr's feeble attempts to get away for a few moment before replying.

"Do you think we can convince her to change back too?"

They all shrugged.

Meanwhile on Terra Bogaton:

"I hope my brothers get back here with that Null Crystal and Enhancer Stone soon, I don't think I can take much more of this" snarled Repton to himself, glancing over to his dim-witted brother who was still laughing childishly as he hugged himself, loving the feel of his soft fur.

"Oh, uh…Boss? Wanna stroke my fur?" Asked Lugey, offering him a long rabbit-like ear. "It's real soft."

Repton snarled before he slapped a clawed hand over his face and shook his head in disbelief.

**The End**

* * *

_Well…Phew! The story is finally finished! **Blows party blowers and throws confetti** I hope you all enjoyed it!_

_Please don't think you don't have to review because this is the end, I still like to hear your comments._

_That's about it from me, thanks to you all, Rocky-Out._


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